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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30109986">Linger</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/magnuspr1m3/pseuds/magnuspr1m3'>magnuspr1m3</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Transformers - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Allspark Sam Witwicky, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Feels, Eventual Happy Ending, F/M, M/M, Mech Sam Witwicky, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011), Sam-Centric</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 00:19:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,581</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30109986</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/magnuspr1m3/pseuds/magnuspr1m3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Rewrite of Fighting for Nothing.</p>
<p>An attack on Sam and Carly leaves Carly dead and Sam changed. No one quite understands it, but if Sam has learned one thing in his life, it is that the Allspark is almost always to blame for shitty things happening to him. Sam has to deal with the grief of losing not only his fiancée but also his humanity, as the Autobots suddenly find they are not quite as welcome on Earth as previously believed. Yet, the Earth still needs the Autobots, and they will come to find this out the hard way.</p>
<p>The Autobots just might not be ready to fight for Earth anymore. And Sam cannot blame them. Not now that he is one.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Bumblebee/Sam Witwicky, Jazz/Prowl (Transformers), Megatron/Optimus Prime, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Past Carly Spencer/Sam Witwicky, Ratchet/Wheeljack</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>22</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Linger</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi everyone! Welcome to the rewrite of Fighting for Nothing! If you read the old work, you'll notice almost immediately that some things have changed. Trust me, it really just helps the story as a whole. Few things to note, if you are not familiar with fighting for nothing:</p>
<p>1. This takes place before Age of Extinction. It will include <i>some</i> of the things that happen in AOE, but like, only just barely.<br/>2. Optimus does not kill Megatron at the end of DOTM. Sadly, Ironhide still dies. Mudflap and Skids will also die then.<br/>3. It will continue passed the few connections it has to AOE. This was originally a story and it's sequel, but I have decided to combine them, which necessitated a lot of the rewrites for it to just... work.</p>
<p>So, I hope you enjoy this!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Pain, albeit a strange sort of pain, pulled him from what he assumed was a long period of sleep. He thought that he may have been shaking but could not find the strength to open his eyes or still his body. All he could do was lay there in the dark, internally screaming for help. He could hear voices, rather distant ones. They nagged at his aching consciousness, breaking in at random intervals. He tried desperately to identify the voices, to will his mouth to open and call to them.</p>
<p>
  <em>Help me, oh god, please.</em>
</p>
<p>"...Bee, you need to calm down. You rushin’ about the medbay is just gonna make Ratchet’s job more difficult." This voice was rough, harsh, but the tone was soft. He heard clicking and whirring, something that seemed familiar. “Mechling, he’s not dead.”</p>
<p>"I should have been there! I barely ever see him anymore, and I hate it!" He knew that voice immediately. He could not pinpoint from where, but he knew it. Bee, the other voice had said. Yes, yes, he knew the name, knew it was important. But who was it? His mind gave him no face to match the name with. He tried to call for this Bee but could not even muster the strength to do much more than groan as he spasmed. He felt a pressure settle on his chest, stilling him as he felt his body twitch and worsened the ache. “Now Carly is gone and- I can’t <em>lose</em> him, Hound!</p>
<p>"Bee, there was nothing you could’ve-"</p>
<p>"Don't say that! Sam is my charge! Carly was my charge! I should have been there for them!" Sam. That must be his name, Sam. He tried once more to call out to the voices, to get their attention. Yet again he was unsuccessful.</p>
<p>"If you two are only going to yell, get out of my infirmary! I can't work with you two bickering right next to me! So, if you want Sam fixed, Bumblebee, shut up!" This voice was loud, angered, and slightly frightened. Sam didn’t like the implications of the fear in his tone. Perhaps he really was dying. He found he did not want to die, even with the terrible pain. "He is semi-aware of what's going on. He should be able to hear you if you talk to him, Bee<em>." I can already hear you! He wanted to shout. Help me! Stop this! I don't want to die!</em></p>
<p>"Really?" There is an agonizing pause in which the pain seems to grow stronger than before, and Sam wished desperately that he could scream. Bee’s soft voice, tone slightly scratching as if from disuse, broke through the pain and pulled him back. "Sam? I- I’m so, so sorry. I should’ve been there, should’ve been home. None of this would’ve happened if I was home.” Home. Sam and Bee shared a home, a place where one made memories and did a good many other things. Sam felt a tingle spread out from within his chest, easing away the pain. <em>Keep talking, Bee. Please. </em>He thought, urging silently for the pain to ease completely.</p>
<p>"I hope you don’t hate me for what’s happened, whenever you wake up. Because you will wake up. I know you will.” Bee's voice sounded rather distraught, and Sam's stomach clenched up with guilt. Bee was sad because of him; it is all his fault. Bee sighed, a soft woosh of air. He thought he may have felt it against him. "Sam, I love you. You are my best friend..."</p>
<p>Bee said he loved Sam. He kept on talking, voice just above a whisper. He told Sam about all sorts of things after that: about being able to speak, about a party he missed because of work, and about Bee’s own work and training. Sam felt the pain ease more until it was nearly gone, fading as time passed. But the voices faded as well.</p>
<p>“I’ve got him stable, Bee. He’ll be under in a second…”</p>
<p>.   .   .</p>
<p>
  <em>… Systems coming online…</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>… Beginning start up protocols. Standby…</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>…Start up successful.</em>
</p>
<p>A voice spoke softly at his side as he onlined his optics. “Easy, Sam. Don’t try to move yet, just rest while I check your systems.” A hand rested on his shoulder, dwarfing it with how large it was; it could have covered his whole body easily. Once his optics adjusted to the light, he rolled his head to the side, ignoring the scolding from the other. He was in the medbay. Standing beside him, and trying to keep him from moving, was Ratchet. He knew him, knew where he was.</p>
<p>He did not know why. <em>He did not know why.</em></p>
<p>“Wh-what’s going on?” He asked in a panic. His voice sounded wrong to him, laced with static when it should be smooth. “Ratchet, what- what’s going on?”</p>
<p>The mech looked at him now, optic to optic (<em>was that correct? Did he have optics? He surely did now, but it felt wrong somehow.</em>). Ratchet’s shoulders slumped forward some, field brushing against his own with bits of worry and sorrow. “There was an accident, Sam. By the time Bee got to you… I couldn’t reverse it. I’m sorry.” And he looked apologetic, definitely, but that was not the answer he – <em>Sam, his name was Sam</em> – wanted.</p>
<p>“No, I mean- I don’t remember why I’m here. I know where here is, I know who you are, I know that my voice sounds <em>wrong</em>, but I don’t know why.” His voice came out in a rush, sparkrate rising and setting off a monitor in the room. “Ratchet, you call me Sam, but I don’t know who that is!” He watched as Ratchet took a cable from his own wrist and connected it to Sam, not saying a word the entire time but obviously working with a sense of urgency. He felt the other shifting through his processor, searching for something.</p>
<p>A few more moments of searching, and Ratchet finally disconnect from his medical port. “You appear to have locked your memories behind some sort of firewall. You should get them back once your processor settles, or perhaps if the firewall is triggered by something. Primus only knows what, seeing as a newspark should not even be able to make a firewall such as that.” The medic ran a hand down his face in what was a decidedly human gesture, making Sam chuckle at the look of it. “Your processor knows things; it just isn’t connecting the <em>why</em> with your memories at the moment. Give it time, Sam. What happened… anyone would be happy to forget it.”</p>
<p>“But not everything,” Sam insisted. “Not my entire life, I-“ His voice broke off in a burst of static. He keened loudly, moving against Ratchet’s protests to bring a hand up and-</p>
<p><em>Was that metal</em>? His processor was telling him that was <em>wrong</em>, but why would it be anything else? He had optics, after all, and a <em>processor</em>. He stared at it, flexing his fingers in the light and watching the parts making them up move together. “Something isn’t right,” He whispered, still marveling at his hand.</p>
<p>He felt the regret coming off Ratchet in waves before the medic finally spoke, “Sam, there is much I need to tell you, but first and foremost, I am <em>sorry</em>.” And he then began slowly telling the story of a young human who found his way into an intergalactic war. That was how Optimus found them several hours later, the small mech they knew to be Sam just listening to Ratchet intently as the medic finished telling the story of the battle for Chicago. The Prime reset his vocalizer, catching their attention. He watched as Sam perked up suddenly, optics brightening.</p>
<p>“Optimus Prime!” He chirped. “I know you! I mean, obviously, but I <em>recognize</em> you.” He turned his attention back to Ratchet as the medic gave a fond shake of his head. “I recognize him, Ratchet!”</p>
<p>“Ignore him, Optimus.” Ratchet said drily, ignoring the smack at his hand Sam gave him. “I assume you are here about Bumblebee. You can let him in, but if he causes any trouble, he is out. I’ll have Hound sit on him if I need to.”</p>
<p>No sooner did he say that than a bright yellow camaro came bursting through the double doors of the medbay, squealing to a stop and transforming. Ratchet and Optimus immediately began scolding him in Cybertronian about the tire marks he left and being reckless, but that did not matter to Bee. His optics met Sam’s – blue, instead of  the deep green he was used to seeing – and he whirred a greeting, doorwings and antennae both up in his excitement.</p>
<p>Sam’s optics shuttered, taking in the mech before him. “Bee…” He whispered, staring for a long moment as the scolding settled. “I- I remember. <em>Bee</em>.” He reached for his guardian, keening sadly at the rush of memories and emotions. The mech scooped him up and held him close to his spark, cupping his hands around him as he quivered and cried. He remembered, and that was great, but <em>what </em>he remembered. They had come for him and Carly. <em>Barricade had killed his fiancée, right in front him. He had been forced to watch, before the mech finally shot him, as he tore Carly limb from limb.</em> “<em>Bee. Why-?</em>” Why did it happen? Why to sweet, sassy Carly? Why was he like this now? Why could he not have a normal life?</p>
<p>Why?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'll be planning to update this fic once a month for now, while I work towards finishing Some Minds. If you want to come harass me about updates, or just chat about transformers, I have a discord server: <a href="https://discord.gg/QAhBa8Fwyp"> HERE </a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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